7 Minutes or Less

I had an opportunity recently to participate in an annual interfaith event… The Interfaith Forums presented by the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada (www.interfaithsn.org). The format is pretty much unchanging over the 23 years we’ve been doing the Forum series: Introduction of Panelists representing 5 or 6 local faith communities; 6 or 7 minutes to speak on your faith tradition’s teaching or perspective on a specific, pre-determined topic; open questions from the audience; fellowship and informal dialog.

I was participating on the panel for “Religious Principles and Spiritual Development.” We were to address how our “religion” promoted our spiritual development and what a spiritually evolved member “looked” like. When I discussed this with Rev. D, he suggested I just stand up and say, “Here.” We laughed. I struggled. Not because the topic was difficult to address, but because I had only 7 minutes to say everything about Religious Science that deals with spiritual development.

Seven Minutes!?!? Didn’t Dr. Holmes spend more than 40 years talking about this? Isn’t that what every Sunday morning message is leading toward? A lifetime of ministry in 7 minutes. What to say, what to leave out, what questions will the audience ask? It made me realize I had become “rusty” in providing a concise, comprehensive statement of Religious Science. In the past few years, my path has allowed me to take my time explaining to the uninitiated or promoting deeper understanding in our students or congregants.

I remember in my Practitioner studies, we were encouraged to be prepared for just such an occasion… the casual conversation that leads into the question, “Just what IS Religious Science?” or “What is your church all about?” And I remember sitting in a cab, heading to the airport in Orlando, FL, with my mentor/teacher when the cabbie asked us just that question. She waited for me to respond. I knew I had a captive audience for at least the 15 minutes to the airport, but I had only 1 or 2 minutes to capture his attention so that he might want to know more. Quite honestly, I don’t remember what my reply was, but we did end up talking about Religious Science for the rest of our ride.

7 minutes or less… a whole lifetime of change can take place with the well-chosen, or well-prepared word. How ready will I be the next time I have 7 minutes or less to make a difference?